Indian Church : Changes And Challenges

We
are in the midst of the pandemic COVID-19; it has gripped the world, in a
manner which no other catastrophe, calamity or crisis has done before. The
defining quantum is the ‘unknown’; no one knows how and where and in what
manner it will strike. As of today, nobody knows when it will end. In a recent
statement the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said some 80% of the
positive cases in India were either completely asymptomatic or with very mild
symptoms. Each day ‘newer’ dimensions of this pandemic are being
discovered. That makes this pandemic all
the scarier for most. Then social and other media abounds in all kinds of
‘cures’ , ‘remedies’ and ‘preventives’ . Finally there is the ‘fear’ factor; the
fear of the unknown has already taken a toll everywhere. With more than two
months of lockdown in the country, everybody today lives in a cloud of
uncertainty.

The
UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) had already declared the pandemic as a
global emergency on 30 January this year. India was a late starter having woken
up to this reality with a token ‘janata curfew’ on 22 March and finally with a
nationwide lockdown the midnight of 24/25 March. The sudden lockdown, and the
immediate suspension of every form of public transport left millions of migrant
workers (most of them daily wage earners) stranded all over the country. Having
to fend for themselves thousands undertook the painful trek back to their
native places, walking hundreds of miles without food or drink. More than three
hundred of them have died on the way. Many have been incarcerated in different
states. Some are still walking. The images and other video footage doing the rounds,
is to say the least, heart-wrenching! India is today paying a heavy price for a
botched lockdown. To defocus from their lack of competency and ineptitude, the
Government resorted to gimmicks asking people to ring bells , bang steel plates, clap hands,
light deals and even got the Air Force to do a fly-past and shower petals on
hospitals at a whopping expense! There has been a tremendous lack of Personal
Protective Equipment (PPEs) kits and other necessary medical facilities. In
Gujarat, for example, there is enough evidence of fake ventilators being sold
to Government hospitals by some unscrupulous ‘manufacturers’ close to the
ruling regime!

Thankfully,
at least one State in India, Kerala got its act together much earlier. Kerala
has the dubious distinction of having the first positive case of the corona
virus in the country. The State Government however left no stone unturned to
deal with pandemic. Today the efforts and response of Kerala are being hailed
as a model for the world to emulate. In the midst of all this suffering: of
illness, hunger and fear- there are also several positive stories emerging: of
hope and resilience; of courage and selflessness; of availability and
generosity; of sacrifice and kindness and much more. People have reached out to
those in need as never before often at great risk to themselves. Health care
professionals, other care givers and their support teams have worked round the
clock to save lives and provide the much needed medical assistance. Police and
other security, officials and those who need to ensure that the basic protocols
are maintained have also done so painstakingly and at great risk.

The
pandemic and the subsequent lockdown has also had a profound impact on the
Church. ‘Going’ to Church has literally come to a standstill. Masses, devotions
and other spiritual exercises are livestreamed online. Family prayer and
personal devotions have certainly increased; the ‘new’ way of being Church has
also meant that the traditional way of ‘being Church’ may undergo a sea change
in future. The Church has reached out to those affected; Church personnel and
laity have reached out to the migrant workers feeding them and even housing
them in certain places. Church hospitals were made available to work in
collaboration with the Government. Several schools and colleges are still being
used throughout the country for quarantine facilities. ‘Compassion’ has always
been a strength of the Church; and in this time of crisis this core competency
radiated in many more ways and reached many more.

Life
in general will be very different in the months and years; and there will be a
‘new normal’ for all. The pandemic has wrought several changes and with these
new challenges will also emerge. The Church will also need to re-invent itself:
have the courage to read and interpret the signs of the times and play a
prophetic role in a very different context which is emerging. The Church in
India will be confronted with a whole range of challenges; these will include:

The Challenge of ‘Evangelii Gaudium’

In November 2013, at the end of the
Year of Faith, Pope Francis, in his first Apostolic Exhortation
Evangelii Gaudium (the Joy of the
Gospel) emphasized that the heart of the Christian message is “
love for one another which must motivate all
Christians to share the Gospel, reach out to the poor and work for social
justice”. He emphatically stated that “
the
Son of God, becoming flesh, summons us to the
revolution of tenderness.” The Exhortation re-emphasized that
“the Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy
and by love for mankind, hears the cry for justice and intends to respond to it
with all her might” (#188). Pope Francis goes on further when he talks
about the need and importance of solidarity and concern for the vulnerable
sections of society.

A few days ago (on 13 May) in an
advance message for the
106th World Day of Migrants andRefugees 2020 (which
is on 27 September) Pope Francis focuses on ‘Like Jesus Christ, forced to flee:
Welcoming, Protecting, Promoting and Integrating Internally Displaced Persons’.
He says, “I
have decided to devote this Message to the drama of internally
displaced persons, an often unseen tragedy that the global crisis caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated. In fact, due to its virulence, severity
and geographical extent, this crisis has impacted on many other humanitarian
emergencies that affect millions of people, which has relegated to the bottom
of national political agendas those urgent international efforts essential to
saving lives. But “this is not a time for forgetfulness. The crisis we are
facing should not make us forget the many other crises that bring suffering to
so many people”

In his message he gives
the Church, “six pairs of verbs that deal with very practical actions and are
linked together in a relationship of cause and effect”. These are (i) you
have
to know in
order
to understand (ii)
it is necessary
to be close in
order
to serve (iii) in
order
to be reconciled,
we need
to listen
(iv) in order
to grow,
it is necessary
to share
(v) we need
to be involved in
order
to promote and (vi)
it is necessary
to cooperate in
order
to build.

All twelve verbs in fact radiate from
the ‘joy of the gospels’. Given the fact
that millions of migrant workers have been made to suffer so terribly these
past couple of months; the dehumanizing and exploitative situation which they
are subject to; the fact that that they are treated as ‘outsiders’ and not as
citizens of the country lays bare the crass exclusion and inequality which
exists in our society today. In
‘Evangelii Gaudium’ Pope Francis, strikes hard when he says,
“how can it be that it is not news item when
an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock
market loses two points?”

Will the Church in India dare walk those miles with the migrant
workers of the country? Take up cudgels on their behalf? Critique the ills of an unjust society? Demand
that labour policies are in keeping with the Church teachings and not according
to the whims and fancies and greed of heartless regimes?

The Challenge of ‘Laudato Si’

On
24 May, will be five full years since Pope Francis gave the world his path-breaking
Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home’. In this Encyclical he lists a
whole range of challenges and is focussed on the idea of ‘
integral ecology’. In the very first chapter, he lists six of the
most serious challenges facing our common home; these are:

Pollution,
waste and our throwaway culture: “
the
earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of
filth”

Climate
change:
“one of the principal challenges facing
humanity in our day” but “many of those who possess more resources and economic
or political power seem mostly to be concerned with masking the problems or
concealing their symptoms”

Water:
“access to safe drinkable water is a basic
and universal human right” yet entire populations, and especially children get
sick and die because of contaminated water

Biodiversity:
“Each year sees the disappearance of
thousands of plant and animal species” and the consequences cannot be predicted
as “all of us, as living creatures, are dependent on one another”. Often
transnational economic interests obstruct this protection

Breakdown
of society:
Current models of development adversely affect the quality of life of most of
humanity and
“many cities are huge, inefficient
structures, excessively wasteful of energy and water

Global
inequality: Environmental problems affect the most vulnerable
people, the greater part of the world’s population and the solution is not
reducing the birth rate but counteracting
“an
extreme and selective consumerism; the cry of the earth and the cry of the
poor”

The
Government today has gone on a downward spiral : doing everything they can to
destroy the environment : the Western Ghats and the Aravalli Hills; the
building of a dam in Dibang ; the selling of coal mines to private companies ;
giving their crony capitalist friends license to loot, plunder and rape the
environment and much more!

Will
the Church in India transcend the fact that ‘Laudato Si’ is beyond the cosmetic:
it is not about growing trees, or a green fad, or a programme to be celebrated
occasionally? It is about taking a stand for the environment calling out the
rich and the powerful who are destroying our fragile eco-systems and taking
away our precious natural resources. It is about the consumeristic throwaway culture which we live in. It is
about a society which needs to change immediately and walk on the path of
righteousness. At the end Pope Francis poses a direct and sensitive question“
what kind of world do we want to
leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?
Are we able to answer it?

The Challenge of being a
Communicating Church

On
24 May the Church also observes the
‘54th World
Communications Day’. The theme this year is
“That you may tell your children and
grandchildren” (Ex 10:2) Life becomes history”. Pope Francis says, “
the title of this year’s Message is drawn
from the Book of Exodus, a primordial biblical story in which God intervenes in
the history of his people. When the enslaved children of Israel cry out to Him,
God listens and remembers: “God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with
Isaac and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel – and God knew” (Ex 2: 24-25). God’s memory
brings liberation from oppression through a series of signs and wonders. The
Lord then reveals to Moses the meaning of all these signs: “that you may tell
in the hearing of your children and grandchildren… what signs I have done among
them, that you may know that I am the Lord” (Ex 10:2). The Exodus experience teaches us that knowledge
of the Lord is handed down from generation to generation mainly by telling the
story of how he continues to make himself present. The God of life communicates
with us through the story of life”. So appropriate for today’s times.

Whilst
it is mandatory to maintain physical distancing and even to ‘stay-at-home’,
there are newer and more enhanced ways of communication today. Yes constant
communication with God seems more than ever paramount. Communicating with
others seems to have become a new normal in this rather abnormal situation.
Social communications is as never before: one is simply inundated with
messages, memes and photos all the time on WhatsApp, on Messenger, on Telegram,
on Instagram, on Twitter, on Facebook. Some of them are really useful. Messages
of hope, that all will be well again. Besides, there have been some excellent
programmers on webinar and other communication platforms. But on the other side
there is plenty of fake news. Untruth and even hate being spewed out.

Addressing
the participants at Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications (21
September 2013) Pope Francis said, “Are we able to communicate the face
of a Church which is “home” to all? We sometimes speak of a Church that has its
doors closed, but here we are contemplating much more than a Church with open
doors, much more! . . . We need to bring Christ to others, through these joys
and hopes, like Mary, who brought Christ to the hearts of men and women; we
need to pass through the clouds of indifference without losing our way; we need
to descend into the darkest night without being overcome and disorientated; we
need to listen to the dreams, without being seduced; we need to share their
disappointments, without becoming despondent; to sympathize with those whose
lives are falling apart, without losing our own strength and identity .This is
the path. This is the challenge.” The
Church, the pandemic has shown us, is not about structures but about attitudes.

Years
ago, the Catholic Bishops of India gave themselves the mandate of becoming a
‘Communicating Church’, an honest appraisal will show that the lofty ideals
have not translated into something which is effective and prophetic. Hopefully
the Feast of the Ascension (24 May) and
the Feast of Pentecost (31 May) both days in which we celebrate the
‘communicating’ dimension of our faith will enable new vigour and commitment on
the part of the Church.

Will
the Church in India play a prophetic role and head-on address the challenges of
the Joy of the Gospel, the Caring for Our Common Home and Being a Communicating
Church in a post-pandemic nation?